Alternative statutory remedy principle: writ petition should not be entertained when the Act provides a direct appellate forum.

An effective statutory appeal having been provided under the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges (Regulation) Act, 1976, the SC held that the writ petition should not have been entertained by the High Court. The Court declined to examine the merits of the construction of "otherwise terminated" in Section 19(1), and instead applied the rule that a party should ordinarily be relegated to the prescribed appellate remedy when such a forum exists. The High Court's judgment was set aside, the writ petition was dismissed, and liberty was granted to pursue the statutory appeal, with limitation protected if filed within the time allowed.

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Issues: Whether the High Court ought to have entertained the writ petition when an alternative statutory appeal lay under the Act, and whether the writ petition should be dismissed with liberty to pursue the appellate remedy.

Analysis: The Court declined to enter into the controversy on the construction of the words "otherwise terminated" in Section 19(1) of the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges (Regulation) Act, 1976. It held that the writ petition filed before the High Court should not have been retained when the statute provided an appeal to the prescribed authority under Section 37. The proper course was to leave the parties to the statutory appellate mechanism, while protecting limitation if the appeal was filed within the time granted by the Court.

Conclusion: The High Court's judgment was set aside and the writ petition was dismissed, with liberty to the respondent to prefer an appeal under Section 37 before the prescribed authority.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, and the matter was redirected to the statutory appellate forum without any adjudication on the merits of the termination issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an effective statutory appeal is available, the writ petition need not be entertained and the aggrieved party should ordinarily be relegated to the prescribed appellate remedy.

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